Neil Halstead is
a British musician who is of the folk persuasion and is set to release a new
album this September. His music is laced with calmly sung acoustic melodies
often accompanied by piano interludes and the occasional violin. All of these elements frame Halstead’s work as
contemporary folk music. Folk music is
at its heart about telling cautionary tales and doing so in a style that is
approachable. It invites you to join in and in a very real way, it’s expected
that folk songs are to be passed along during get-togethers and times of
fellowship. Bob Dylan began his career as
a folk musician, singing ancestral songs, only to make his own additions to the
musical tome of folk. These songs became rallying points for a generation, to
sing so that their themes and sentiments of warning could be passed on. Yes,
times they were a-changin, but the more time passes the fewer things seem to
actually change. That being said, Neil
Halstead does not seem to take very much from Dylan, he has his own voice and
it is quite soft and inviting.
The songs that populate Palindrome
Hunches are sometimes about love and loss but if the title song to this
album is any indication Palindrome
Hunches is about finding serenity in forgiveness. This serene sentiment can
be heard in the way the piano genially plays in the background accompanied by
Halstead’s lyrical bursts ranging from talk of a Toyota to the devil himself. The overwhelming theme that continues to come
back during this brief song is that you must forgive wonderings about
unrealized daydreams and move on. (Or perhaps the song’s about nothing that is
always a possibility.) However, if the theme of this album can be gleamed from
the track Palindrome Hunches, then it
is definitely about something and it definitely is worth listening to.
Key tracks on Palindrome Hunches are, Digging Shelters, Wittgenstein’s
Arm, Spin The Bottle and Palindrome Hunches.
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